


generations

by Mertiya



Series: Mundane Outliers [3]
Category: Everyday Abnormal (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Children and parents - Freeform, Dinner with potential in-laws interrupted by giant snake, F/M, Harm to Children, Healing, It's a little more awkward than usual, Judaism, M/M, Meeting the Parents, heredity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 23:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14658813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya
Summary: Rhine is waiting for Carlos to show up to meet his parents when a giant snake shows up instead.  Just another typical day for an Agent.





	generations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zomburai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zomburai/gifts).



            “Mama, I play outside?” Rachel looked down as Rhine tugged at her skirt.

            “Not today, sweetheart. Today is a quiet day.”

            Her two year old poked out his lower lip. “Want outside.”

            “We’ll go to the park tomorrow, okay? Why don’t you go get a nice book and I’ll read to you?” He made a soft, sulky noise and stomped off. Rachel frowned down at her attempted Hebrew translations. She hadn’t started learning until recently, and languages were not her strong suit. After several minutes of chewing on her pencil, she realized Rhine had not come back. With a sigh, she got up and left her translations behind. He was probably stuck trying to decide between _Frog and Toad_ and _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_.

            “Rhine?” she called, poking her head into the bedroom. The bookshelf was suspiciously undisturbed. “Rhine, honey, where are you?” He wasn’t in the bedroom. None of the books had been touched. Had he even listened to her? Rachel’s lips thinned in frustration. What was she going to do with that child? He’d probably gone outside after all.

            She found her husband in the garden, weeding. Jacob Leibowitz had been an avid gardener for years, at least since the two of them had reconnected in 1974. He had an almost uncanny way with the plants, and it was his quiet space, the way his wife’s was the library. “Is Rhine with you?” she asked.

            Jacob looked up, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “I thought he was with you.”

            “He was.” She frowned. “He was complaining about wanting to play outside, and I just looked away for a few minutes—”

            Before she could say anything else, a tiny high-pitched scream echoed through the stillness of the bright Texas morning. Rachel put her hands to her mouth in horror, Jacob threw aside his gardening gloves, and the two of them were running in the direction of the sound.

~

            Rhine fiddled distractedly with his phone. Where was Carlos? The last text he’d had was “on my way,” which had been ten minutes ago, and surely it didn’t take _that_ long to get to the restaurant.

            “Rhine, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you.” With a shock, he clicked the phone shut and looked up. His mother and father must have come in while he was still texting Carlos. Mom held out her arms, and he gave her a ginger but sincere hug. Dad’s face was unreadable, but he held out a hand for Rhine to shake readily enough.

            “H-Hey,” Rhine stammered. “Um, Carlos is running a little late, but he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

            “Hm,” said his father, and Rhine cringed.

            “Let’s just order drinks while we wait,” Mom said hurriedly. Rhine sank back into his seat and sent another text, _babe please they’re here where are you_.

            Drinks were ordered. Drinks arrived. Mom kept up a bright stream of conversation about nothing in particular, while Dad sat quietly. Rhine tried not to chew on his nails. Mom had always been great about—pretty much everything. Dad—had had some problems when Rhine first came out, and Rhine had always had the sense that he’d prefer it if Rhine just gave up the whole Gay Thing and settled down with a Nice Jewish Girl.

            His pocket vibrated, and he grabbed for it.

            _Really sorry, giant scorpions, will be there as soon as I can._

 _The fuck???_ Rhine typed desperately, because Carlos shouldn’t be on alert right now, should he? Was he on call for giant scorpions? _Why were there giant scorpions happening tonight of all nights?_

            _Also several giant snakes, I’m not really sure what’s going on. Will be there. I promise._

            “Uh.” Rhine looked up from frantically typing on his phone to see both parents staring at him.

            “Your boyfriend delayed again?” Dad asked.

            “Work stuff happened?” Rhine hazarded. “Kind of, uh, unavoidable work stuff. But he will be here.”

            “You haven’t said much about your work,” Mom put in, and Rhine shoved his phone back into his pocket and grabbed for his wine.

            “Uh, well, I’m a medic,” he tried. “Basically?”

            “Like an EMT?” his mother prompted brightly.

            “Sort of.” He took a long draw of wine. “Yeah. Basically. They don’t have enough of us at the Agency.”

            “And what kind of work does the Agency do?”

            Rhine sputtered, then stalled for time by taking another gulp.

            “ _Boychick_ , maybe slow down a little,” his father said, and Rhine still couldn’t read his voice. His parents had to know about the general existence of the supernatural, after his last year of high school, right? But they’d never really discussed it. He was suddenly and distressingly aware that they didn’t seem to talk about very important things in his family.

            “Well…you remember the thing back when I was in high school?” Rhine tried. He was keeping his eyes very firmly on his glass of wine, so he could see the large, plate-glass window behind his parents, but the image was distorted through the crimson of the wine and the curve of the glass. For some reason, his attention was drawn by a wavering shadow outside that seemed to be growing larger. Rhine frowned, swirling the wine around, but it made no difference. There was a head forming, the sudden glint of light on—scales? Rhine frowned and started to get up.

            Before he’d even gotten out of his chair, the glass shattered, and Rhine felt his jaw drop, because that was definitely a giant snake. “Oh. Oh, _shit_.” He groped for his phone, then paused. “Mom, Dad,” he said, in as steady a voice as he could manage. “Get under the table. Right now.” Then he started forward.

            “Rhine, wait—” Mom’s voice. G-ddammit, Rhine thought, being the only Agency member here when you were a healer was just—just not the best situation. _You’re not a hero_ , someone screamed in the back of his head, and he ignored them as he circled forward in a wide arc toward the serpent. _What are you going to, heal it into submission?_

 _Shut up,_ Rhine thought. _I’ll figure something out_. The snake slithered forward.

~

            They found Rhine just a little way from the house, still screaming. He was sitting on the ground, tiny hands clutching at his leg; beneath them, blood was already welling up and trickling down his ankle. A few feet away, a streak of red and black banded with yellow was already racing away across the barren ground.

            Jacob reached Rhine first, scooping him up. Their son stopped screaming as he did so, dissolving into tearing, terrified sobs. “Papa,” he sobbed. “I sorry, I bad, I sorry.”

~

            All right. He had its attention. It was occurring to him at this point just how much he didn’t _want_ that, but it was focused on him, at least, and not on any of the civilians in the restaurant. Which would be great, if he had any gear or any training that might address the situation. He made a mental note, if he got out of this, to ask that “How To Defeat Giant Snakes While On Leave” be added to the repertoire of training videos.

            Swallowing hard, he started to back away and finished pulling his cell phone out. He hit the requisite speed dial, and Neuro picked up within half a ring.

            “Hey, there’s a giant snake,” Rhine said. “Um, help—I mean, requesting backup.”

            “Carlos already contacted us,” Neuro told him steadily. “Asuka and Russell are on their way.”

            “Can they be _really_ fast?” Rhine asked, not taking his eyes off the creature. Red and black, he noted, red and black with yellow banding. _Red touch yellow—kills a fellow_. Oh, of course. It wasn’t just giant. It was giant and _poisonous_.

            “They’re closing on your location now, Agent. Just stay calm.”

            “Have I mentioned the _giant snake_?!”

            He’d been too loud. The snake flicked its massive tongue at him and began to slither closer.

            “G-G-Good snake,” Rhine tried. The creature hissed, huge head swaying back and forth. Rhine tried to calculate how much venom it would inject with a single bite, then paused and tried to calculate how much damage fangs nearly the size of his forearm would probably cause, then stopped, swallowed, and concentrated on staying as still as possible.

            The snake tensed, head pulling back, and Rhine abruptly knew what a mouse felt like. No point staying here any longer, but he was frozen, and there wasn’t much point, was there, because he couldn’t possibly outrun a snake. Blur of motion—someone shouted his name—then familiar arms were around him, and he heard Carlos grunt in pain in his ear as the two of them slammed into the floor.

            For a moment, he lay and breathed. His next thought was, _Oh shit, what about the snake?_ and then he heard Asuka scream a war cry, which, with any luck, meant—

            He was staring into Carlos’s face, and something was very wrong. His pupils were dilated, wide and dark, his cheeks grey, and Rhine could feel his heart beating rapidly, desperately, against his own chest, and something wet soaking through his dress shirt just at the top of his stomach. “Carlos?” he whispered, and then he rolled to the side, shifting Carlos onto the floor beside him.

            “You—okay?” Carlos managed between tearing breaths.

            “I’m fine—Carlos—oh _shit_.” From this angle, it was easy to see the bright red blood soaking through Carlos’s very nice shirt, which was riding up to reveal twin puncture wounds with diameters of at least an inch. “Oh, fuck,” Rhine said. “Oh, _fuck_ , okay, hold on, I’ve got this. Just keep breathing, okay?”

            Tight little nod. Carlos had one arm pressed across his stomach, as if he were trying to stop the bleeding but wasn’t quite in the right position to do so. Rhine forced himself upright and pulled himself over to his boyfriend, concentrating as hard as he could. _Feel it_ , he told himself sternly. The warmth was already rising in his hands, the soft rose-white glow surrounding them. Carlos’s blood thrummed beneath them, but it was faltering, failing, as his heart increased, desperately trying to keep blood moving without the ability to account for the way it was leaking out his front. “Just keep breathing,” Rhine told him. “Just—just hold on, Carlos, _please_ , I’m sure—someone—someone is calling 911. You’re going to—to be fine.”

            There was something dark sweeping through Carlos’s bloodstream, a front that ripped into the nerve cells, catching at his lungs and his heart and doing its best to stop them. “Oh, G-d,” Rhine whimpered, trying not to lose his focus. But there was so much damage, and Carlos was struggling to breathe, and the blood kept welling up beneath his hands and welling up, Carlos’s blood, Carlo’s _life_ —someone was making a soft, terrified noise near his ears. “Oh, please,” Rhine whispered. “Oh, please, G-d, please, don’t take him too, please don’t take him too—” There was so, so much blood.

~

            Rachel’s heart clenched, staring down at the body of her tiny miracle, her little boy, convulsing in her husband’s arms. “Oh, no,” she could hear herself saying. “I’ll run back to the house, I’ll call 911, I’ll—” Her baby boy’s lips were turning blue, eyes dilating, as he struggled to breathe. There wouldn’t be _time_.

            “It’s all right.” Jacob’s voice, so strangely far away. “It’s going to be all right. Let’s go back to the house.”

            “What are you—Rhine’s _dying_ , Jacob, he’s _dying_ —”

            “He is not going to die.”

~

            “Steady now, son.” Large hand laid on his shoulder. Rhine blinked against the blurriness sweeping across his vision and looked up in confusion to see his father stooping over them. “No, don’t pay attention to me. Keep concentrating. I’ll help.”

            “You’ll—you’ll what? Dad—”

            “Your mother just called 911. Just concentrate. Keep healing him.”

            Swallowing, fighting against the fear rising in his throat, Rhine obeyed, pressing his hands into Carlos’s chest.

~

            The look in Jacob’s eyes was determined, almost cold, but he was very tender as he swept Rhine’s hair back from his forehead, opened his mouth, and began to sing.

~

            His father’s large hands were laid over his, and then Dad’s rumbling voice sounded in Rhine’s ear, the same phrase, the same ancient invocation in the same cadence he’d heard every day growing up.

~

            “ _Sh’ma Yisrael.”_ The words Jacob and Rachel sang every night with Rhine as a lullaby, as well as during their prayers. Rachel felt a sob catch in her throat. Her son was dying, and his father was singing to him to ease his pain.

_~_

“ _Adonai Eloheinu._ ” Rhine found himself joining in instinctually, adding his own wavering voice to his father’s. His hands were warm, warmer than ever, and there was a green glow twining around the white. Carlos’s breathing was easing, ever so slightly; the dark thing in his blood was beginning to retreat.

~

            “ _Adonai Echad._ ” Was it her imagination, or was Rhine’s breathing easing a little? Jacob was wholly concentrated on the tiny figure in his arms, but Rachel moved closer, adding her voice to his in the age-old prayer, as they began again, just the little snippet of a plea. “ _Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad_.”

~

            It had never felt like this. Rhine couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Beneath his and his father’s hands, Carlos’s wounds were actually knitting. Swollen clots swelled up, chased by knitting red tissue, chased by white scar tissue, chased by—new pink flesh. His breathing eased, heart slowing and steadying, and the ghastly pallor started to retreat from his cheeks. Somewhere inside himself, Rhine could feel the swell of blood as the marrow of Carlos’s bones spun off new cell after new cell, far faster than should have been possible.

~

            Rhine’s eyes fluttered shut, a slight red flush growing on the child’s cheeks. G-d. Was it the end? _Please_ , Rachel thought, and then Rhine’s mouth moved, and his soft, high little voice joined in at the end of the next phrase, “… _Adonai Echad._ ”

            He blinked three times, and his lip trembled. “Mad at me?” he asked sadly.

            Rachel gasped convulsively and reached out. Though his ankle was still covered with sticky red blood, there was no wound beneath his father’s large fingers, no puncture. His breathing was easy.

            “I told you he wasn’t going to die,” Jacob said. “Here.” He pushed Rhine into her arms, took a half step forward, and knelt on the ground, breathing hard and sweating as if he’d just been running.

~

            “ _Fuck_ ,” Carlos groaned, sitting up. In the background, “Russell, look ou—oof. Again? Really?”

            “Are you all right?” Rhine wanted to fling his arms around Carlos, wanted to throw himself into his boyfriend’s arms, but he held off, hovering, unsure whether Carlos was still injured and starting to be conscious of his parents’ eyes on them.

            “I feel like I was hit by a train,” Carlos responded. “But I survived that the last time.”

            Rhine decided not to process this. Instead, hesitantly, he reached out and traced a hand across Carlos’s chest and rib-cage, which a moment ago had been a bloody mess. Technically, it was still a bloody mess, but there was no longer any injury. Whole flesh covered his chest and stomach, the blood kept safely contained beneath. “Oh my G-d,” Rhine said in a hushed voice. “How? I can’t—” He looked to the side, to where Dad was slumped against the floor, looking exhausted.

            “Well done,” his father told him, with a quarter of a smile. “I suppose the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree after all.”

            “You—” Rhine said, then stalled. He couldn’t possibly even begin to ask the questions he needed to ask, so, instead, he looked up to see his mother approaching. “Um, Mom, Dad, this is Carlos. My boyfriend,” he hazarded. “Carlos, these are my parents.”

            Carlos gave him a slightly incredulous look, then pulled his now-ruined dress-shirt closer around himself. “Oh, ah, nice to meet you,” he tried. “I’m, um, sorry about the mess.”

            Mom gave him a warm smile. “You just took a giant serpent bite to the back for our son. It’s safe to say we like you.”

            “Thank you for keeping Rhine safe,” Dad said.

            “You’re welcome, sir,” Carlos replied. “Thank you for—whatever you just did. Rhine, I didn’t realize it was hereditary.”

            “You’re, um, not the only one,” Rhine mumbled.

            “All right over here?” Asuka, spattered with blood, with a bloody katana in her hand, trailed across the floor.

            “Doing okay,” Carlos replied with a smile. “What actually happened? Do we know yet?”

            She scratched her hair. “Apparently a wizard who likes enlargement spells had a grudge against the Agency and sent out his pets to specifically target any Agents in the city.”

            “Wait, so, we just got really _unlucky_?” Rhine blurted.

            Asuka gave him a slightly lopsided smile. “Basically.”

            “Oh, _fuck_ me,” Rhine moaned.

            “Rhine,” Mom put in. “Language.”

            “I think I’m allowed right now!”

            Dad put a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe an exception,” he said, with another small smile, and she blushed.

            “Automatic response, I’m afraid.”

            “Is everything under control?” Carlos asked, and Asuka nodded.

            “A second team was dispatched to handle the originator, and he’s been taken into custody. EMTs just arrived; they’re looking over Russell right now. He took a nasty blow to the head.”

            “Again?” Rhine sighed. “I’d better go over and take a look. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to handle concussions on him.”

            He looked awkwardly over to his parents. “Go on,” his mother told him. “I’m sure we can reschedule dinner for another time. I think your father needs a bit of a lie-down anyway.”

            “We need to talk,” Rhine told them both. “But, um, I guess it can wait?”

            “We _do_ need to talk,” his father agreed. “And we will. But for now—” he heaved himself to his feet and put a solid hand on Rhine’s shoulder. “Just know that we’re proud of you, son.”

~

            They took Rhine to the emergency room anyway, just to have him looked over, but the doctors all reported he was fine; there was no sign of a snakebite or a shock. One of them suggested that the remaining blood might not be Rhine’s at all, that maybe he’d just stumbled over a dead animal or something. Rachel agreed verbally that she’d been terrified at the time, and that the human mind did sometimes play tricks. Privately, she watched her husband out of the corner of her eye.

            He was fine; tired, but fine. Once they’d bundled a now-sleepy toddler back into his car seat in the car, she turned to him. “Jacob—”

            “I swore I wouldn’t use it again,” he told her, getting into the driver’s seat. “I made an oath to G-d, but—” He swallowed in a breath that sounded suspiciously like a sob, then let his head fall to the steering wheel. “I’m not Abraham, Rachel. I’m not that strong. I couldn’t risk it.”

            “Thank you,” she whispered, leaning against him. “For my son. _Thank you_.”

           


End file.
